The Quiet Over Ashcombe by Jessica Schafer is a mystery set in two timelines and packed with small-town secrets. Thirty-one years ago, Emmaline Whitlow gave up her newborn daughter for adoption and then vanished without a trace. The town of Ashcombe, Pennsylvania, never forgot her. Vera Redmond’s days are taken up as a court transcriber, but a single notification from HeritageTrace of a DNA match upends her life. Vera wants the truth, so she heads for Ashcombe looking for it. She doesn’t expect to find a divided community, some remembering her mother as a gifted artist, others as a murderer. As she follows a trail of newspaper clippings, motel ledgers, and a hidden journal, she uncovers secrets that were meant to stay buried. But someone wants to stop Vera from finding out the truth. Will they succeed? Or will Vera finally learn her true heritage?

The Quiet Over Ashcombe by Jessica Schafer is the kind of story that draws you in and doesn’t let go. It’s a small-town mystery, the kind of place where everyone knows something but no one knows everything. Set across two timelines, the past and present are drawn together, each chapter bringing a new part of the mystery to the fore, but don’t expect a fast-paced thriller. This is a slow-burning story that builds the tension gradually, keeping you reading until the final page. Readers will find the characters easy to like and believable, especially Vera with her resilience and curiosity. The supporting characters are just as real, each adding their own layer to the story. If you like a small-town mystery centered on family secrets, with plenty of tension and atmosphere, this is well worth reading.

Jessica Schafer’s The Quiet Over Ashcombe is about Vera Redmond, who is a courtroom transcriptionist. Vera changes the moment she receives the results of her HeritageTrace DNA test. After spending years wondering about the identity of her birth parents, Vera discovers that her mother is Emmaline Whitlow. Emma had abandoned both Vera and her own mother without explanation. Vera went to the quiet town of Ashcombe to find clues about her mother. Every piece of information she gathered was only part of a much larger picture. Her search uncovers a devastating secret that has remained buried for thirty-one years. The closer Vera comes to the truth, the more dangerous her investigation becomes. Vera receives a warning to stop looking for answers. Someone is willing to go to great lengths to ensure the past stays hidden forever.

The Quiet Over Ashcombe by Jessica Schafer had me hooked from the first page until the last. I could not turn the pages fast enough to find out what would happen next. With everything that was happening in the book, I could not put it down. I was too afraid I would miss out on something important. The characters were realistic and reliable. Vera was determined to find her mother, but had a hard time finding clues to follow up. The writing was engaging, and I felt part of Vera’s search for answers. The story was beautifully written and held my attention throughout. The ending was absolutely fitting after everything that had happened in the book.